Dear Sisters,
What If The Hokey Pokey IS What It's All About?
By Brittany Rose, a.k.a. Beth
My first dressing experience in April was incredibly short, but very important. The first Sunday in April was the date for a collectibles show featuring Julie Newmar as one of the guests. I thought it would be fun to go dressed to meet her and get a signed photo, a la To Wong Foo. After church, we zipped home and went through the process of getting dressed up. Except for one glitch. A friend of ours at church had given us a gift certificate to an extremely upscale and expensive restaurant in Denver, and my wife really wanted to go that evening. And she didn’t want to go with Beth, my alter ego. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really want to go as Beth either, since it would be passing up a wonderful opportunity for a romantic time together. On the other hand, I was very unhappy to miss Julie Newmar. We fussed and discussed for quite a while before I said that since it was so important to her that we go to the restaurant that night, I would change back to boy mode, and we would miss out on seeing Julie. (Seeing Julie in boy mode wasn’t an option because we didn’t have time to do both.) So we did a little experimenting with my new wig, and picked out an outfit to wear for my next outing, then I changed back to boy mode and we had a wonderful evening.
As incredibly lucky as I am to have an accepting and supportive wife, she still needs to be reminded every so often that Beth is not the number one woman in my life. I’m willing to concede that Beth/Brittany is my number one hobby and interest, but I can’t allow this wonderful hobby to take over all that I do. (Although Beth does show up in just about everything I’m involved in!)
One amusing side note: I had bought nipples to go with my silicone breast forms, and hadn’t told my wife. So I was trying on clothes, and the nipples were showing, but she wasn’t commenting. So finally when I changed clothes to boy mode, I asked her if they were aligned right, and her jaw dropped. She had noticed them, but since women’s breasts normally have nipples, they didn’t strike her as different until I pointed them out. I guess they were aligned just fine.
Drag Me Out to the Ball Game
I’ve discovered that it can be very difficult for non-TG’s to understand what motivates us. (I’m not even sure I understand it sometimes.) One of my wishes that made no sense to anyone was to go to a major league baseball game as Beth. I can’t explain it, but when I started dressing, I thought that going to a game and mingling with other fans would be fun. As I began to find success and confidence at basketball games and other places, I decided to go for it. So I bought two tickets to a night game at Coors Field to see the Rockies play the St. Louis Cardinals, my favorite team. However, my wife was busy that night and couldn’t go. (She’s not much of a baseball fan anyway.) That left a very select group of people to invite. The person to accompany me had to be someone who knew about Beth, who would be comfortable spending time with Beth, was free for the evening, and who liked baseball. My male friends who knew about Beth and liked baseball would not be comfortable going with me en femme. My mother-in-law, who is perfectly comfortable with Beth, doesn’t like baseball. And so on. So who did I wind up going with? My 80-year-old adopted grandmother.
Ruth has been a huge supporter, friend, and confidante in all aspects of my life since I moved to Colorado, and I quickly adopted her as my grandmother. She thinks of my being Beth as just one more off-the-wall thing I do. She’s also a big baseball fan, and when I asked if she would be willing to go to the game with Beth, she agreed instantly and thought it would be a lot of fun!
The big day rolled around and as soon as I got home from work I changed clothes. I wore my women’s black jeans (a little short, but not unfashionably), a Colorado Xplosion tank-top over a white T-shirt, with a black jean jacket, white sneakers and bobby socks, with dangly earrings and matching bracelet. I tried a new look with my wig, clipping it up in back, and wore natural makeup and clear nail polish. On my black jean jacket I had pinned several buttons, including "Beam me up, Scotty, it just ate my phaser", "Tall Women Rise Above it All", and "What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it’s all about?"
Grandma Ruth arrived and we drove to the stadium. We were running a little late, but quickly found parking and walked in. The night was cold with rain and snow predicted, and the Rockies had played very poorly the day before. As a result, Coors Field was only half full. On the way into the stadium, Ruth said that her first destination had to be the bathroom. I agreed that was a good idea, and she said that I should probably go with her. So another line was crossed – my first time in a crowded women’s rest room. No looks or questions. I just went in, did my business, checked my hair, and left. Over the evening I was in the rest room four or five times, without any signs of doubt or concern from anyone else. Definitely a thrill, under the circumstances.
Anyway, we found our seats, talked with the people next to us, and enjoyed the action on the field. I went to get snacks and a program and had a lovely chat with the program seller about how cold it was, but how much nicer it was going to be in New Mexico where my husband and I were going for the weekend. The hot dog lady complimented me on my earrings, and I’m afraid I had a very huge grin on my face when I got back to my seat. At least until the rain started. We quickly dashed back in under the overhang, and then walked down the stairs to a lower level where you could stand in a covered area and still see the field clearly.
The rest of the game was spent wandering around, getting cold, stepping into the gift shop to warm up and buy something, watching the game some more, then back into the gift shop or rest room to warm up. We finally settled into seats along the right field line for a few innings and watched the Rockies vainly try to catch up to the huge lead they’d given the Cardinals. We took some pictures, (yes, I remembered to bring the camera!) and fellow patrons took a couple of pictures for us, as well.
As the game was winding down I still hadn’t gotten a picture of us next to something that said "Coors Field". So we asked three ushers what they recommended, and they suggested using the scoreboard as a backdrop. Grandma Ruth thought that was a great idea and drafted two of them to be in the picture with us. Then we returned to the car and drove home. I was on such a high! On the way home, Ruth told me what a nice time she had and how nice it was to have a new girlfriend to do things with. We’ve already started talking about other outings.
I have no doubt that I blended very well. As a friend commented on seeing the pictures, I looked like I belonged. I never got a stray look or double take the entire evening. I owe part of that to Grandma Ruth. When we were driving to the game, she expressed concern that being with a grandmother might cramp my style. I pointed out to her that she was the best possible asset for me to blend in. If I had been by myself, many would have looked and thought, "Hmm, a tall woman. Is that a guy?" Whereas with Ruth, people looked and thought, "Hmm, a tall woman. And how sweet, she brought her grandmother."
Finally, I have wonderful news. We are expecting our first child in November!
I tell you this because we’re excited, and because the issue of tucking and procreation comes up on occasion. I can’t speak for anyone else, but what I do know is that I dress about twice a month, including tucking, and we didn’t have any problems.
Next time, I’ll tell you about my other experience in April, fulfilling a dream I’ve had since grade school – performing Shakespeare en femme!
Till then I hope that I remain
Fashionably yours,
Brittany Rose
BrittTV@aol.com
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